The farm's guide » Animal Genetic Resources

Zhemaichu (Zhmudka)

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:40:18 +0000

This is a native Lithuanian breed of the forest type, known since the 16th century. Despite repeated crossing with various breeds, it has retained its type and suitability for work on small farms. Un demanding as regards management conditions and highly adaptable, the Zhemaichu has long been exported to western Europe.

The old Zhemaichu type was small in size (up to 144 cm in height); it had a small straight or somewhat dished face head with a wide forehead. The neck was well muscled, the trunk undersized, the withers not too high, the black flat and solid, and the legs clean and firm. Their small height and consequently insufficient strength were the main deficiencies.

The modern Zhemaichu formed in the post-war years by pure breeding and the selection of large individuals with high work endurance, and through limited crossbreeding with North Swedish stallions, is taller (152-154 cm), has a somewhat extended trunk (157-160 cm) and a very massive body with a girth of 188-190 cm, as well as clean legs with a cannon bone girth of 10-20 cm. The new intra-breed type has retained the characteristic exterior features of the old Zhmudka.

The Zhemaichu is a very good combination of utility and sporting horse features. It is quite strong and has good endurance and agility. The best time shown in 2 km trotting draught tests with a pull of 50 kg is 4 min 42.6 sec. The Zhemaichu has also shown good results in steeplechases of average difficulty. It is not accidental therefore that in their time Lithuanian horses were the foundation for breeding the Trakehnen.

Their massive and clean build combined with their sporting potential make the breed valuable material for breeding medium-sized horses for large-scale equestrian sport and tourism.

Their massive and solid build and high adaptability also make Zhemaichu stallions suitable for use in the development of a new meat-producing breed in the Altai.

Reference:

Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.

Photographs:

Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.

We are currently searching for photographs, slides or video of this breed. If you have visual material which we could borrow or if you know of a potential source please contact us using the comment form below.

Tori

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:41:35 +0000

This is an all-purpose utility breed. It was developed in Estonia at Tori stud from 1890 to 1950, by crossing native Estonian mares with European halfbred stallions. The breed was founded by the stallion Hetman, the son of Stewart and an unknown hunter mare. Stewart was a crossbred of a Norfolk Trotter and an Anglo-Norman mare.

The formation of the breed involved extensive use of Hetman and his sons. As a result, a valuable breeding nucleus was rapidly formed. By the end of the 1930s, however, signs of inbreeding depression were found, which manifested themselves in a deterioration of performance and robustness.

Crossing with Breton Post-horse stallions was used to eliminate the inbreeding depression. As a result, the massive type became widespread within the breed and the quality of the gaits began to decline.

A need also arose for a combination of utility and sporting qualities in the horses. To meet this need, a limited experimental new introductory crossing between Tori horses and Hanoverian and Trakehnen stallions was undertaken.

The modern Tori is clearly a harness type and has a very clean and solid build. Its conformational features include a large or medium-sized head, clean-cut and sometimes with a shortened poll. The neck is medium in length and fleshy; withers are average in height, back long and flat, loin medium and broad, croup broad, long and well muscled. The chest is very broad and deep. The limbs are clean and properly set. The average measurements (in cm) of Tori stallions at the studs in 1982 were: height at withers 162, oblique body length 170, chest girth 200 and cannon bone girth 22.3. The colours are chestnut, bay and reddish-bay.

Tori horses have good performance. The breed records are 13 min 21.5 sec in 2000 m draught walk with a pull of 150 kg, 4 min 44.8 sec in 2000 m trot with a pull of 50 kg. The maximum draft endurance with a pull of 300 kg was 1238 m and the maximum pull 880 kg.

The breed’s fertility is quite high, reaching 86 foals per 100 mares.

Many horsebreeders started in the last years to breed with studs whose quality was not tested or recommended. The main idea is to get an extremely light sporthorse-type, this selection has resulted in a rapid loss of purebred Tori. In 1999, the number of purebreds is fewer than 100 with only three purebred studs remaining.

Reference:

Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.

Ute Wohlrab, Hargo Talu, 68226 Kuigatsi / Estonia

Photographs:

Meelis Linnamagi, Estonia

Russian Heavy Draft

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:31:08 +0000

The breeding of a small draft horse which was strong, sufficiently fast, easy to keep and economical as regards management and feeding, went on in Russia concurrently with the breeding of a large heavy draft breed. The genetic material for the breed came from native Ukrainian breeds, the mountain Ardennes and, in part, from the Brabancon and the Orlov Trotter.

Systematic breeding began in the 1860s. The main nucleus of the breed was formed at Peter’s Academy (now the K. Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy), Chesma stud in Voronezh region, at Kochubei and Chaplits studs in Poltava region and Derkulski stud in the Ukraine. Meanwhile, grading up of native horses with the Ardennes was taking place. In 1875 there were nine Ardennes stallions in Russia; the number rose to 597 by 1915. By the beginning of the 20th century the Ardennes type became the most popular in Russia. Even in regions where there was a demand for large heavy drafts and were high grade Ardennes were mated with Brabancons, the crosses retained the old denomination of Ardennes. During the breed formation period, a role of particular importance was played by two breeding centers, the Chesma and the Dubrovsk, and subsequently by the Pershino and Khrenov studs. By the beginning of the 20th century, the world’s zootechnical public was introduced to the Russian Heavy Draught at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. However, the First World War, followed by the Civil War, just about wiped the breed out. In 1924, only92 Ardenne stallions were found. In 1923, breeding animals at Dubrovsk stud were moved to Novoalexandrov stud in Voroshilovgrad region, while the Khrenov stud stock was moved first to Pershino and subsequently to Uralsk and Kuedin studs. By the year 1937 the stock of purebreds was reconstituted and isolated an independent breed.

Due to its high-profit feeding and high adaptability, the Russian Heavy Draught became quite widespread. It is now bred in the Ukraine and North Caucasus, in Udmurtia and Byelorussia, in Kirov, Sverdlovsk, Perm, Vologda and Archangel regions and in western Siberia.

The horse is not large yet heavily muscled; its trunk is long and broad; the joints are well developed and the limbs solid. The average measurements (in cm) of stud stallions are: heights at withers 152, oblique body length 161, chest girth 200 and cannon bone girth 22.5; mares: 149, 158, 192 and 21.2 respectively. The stallions’ live weight is 600-700 kg; that of mares is 550-600 kg. The characteristic features are as follows: the head is average size, clean cut, with Oriental breediness; the forehead is wide and the profile is straight. The neck is short, broad, fleshy and high crested in stallions. The withers are low and broad; the back is long, broad, often somewhat soft; the croup is long, drooping; the loin is flat. The chest is deep and broad; the ribs are steeply sloping. The front legs are short, set too far apart; the pasterns are sometimes short and ringboned. The knee-joints are often too far back. The commonest color is chestnut; brown and bay are rarer.

The Russian Heavy Draught horse is strong, shows a fair speed and has a very willing disposition. The 2000 m draft walking record with a pull of 150 kg is 15 min 5 sec; the 2000 m trotting record with a pull of 300 kg is 1091m. The maximum pull record is 820 kg 117% of live weight.

The Russian Heavy Draught horse matures early; by weaning, the foals reach 250 kg. The mares are good milk producers. At koumiss farms mares produce up to 25000 kg of marketable milk in 6-7 months of lactation. The record milk yield is 5540 kg. Russian Draught horses can be used for periods of up to 25 years. They also have good fertility and longevity. The stallion Kolodnik (b. 1952) was used for breeding up to 1978, while the mare Logika (b. 1962) in 18 years of reproduction produced 18 foals, remains in good health and is still fertile.

The breed’s structure includes 2 intra-breed types, the Ural and the Ukrainian, and 6 male lines. One new line is being formed.

The transferrin polymorphism has been studied in 862 horses and the allele frequency is as follows: D 0.33, F 0.31, H 0.01, R 0.27.

Reference:

Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.

Photographs:

Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.

Deliboz

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:10:01 +0000

Description: This breed of oriental saddle horses was formed in Kazakh, Akstafa and Tauz regions of Azerbaijan and adjacent areas of Georgia and Armenia. Some earlier publications described it as the “Kazakh” horse of Azerbaijan or as the Azerbaijan horse.

Specialists singled out a specific Deliboz type among large horse populations studied in the 1930s and late 1940s. Those horses were improved by Arabian and Karabakh saddle-type stallions. Deliboz horses spread widely throughout western Azerbaijan. In 1943 a State Breeding Cooperative was established to improve horse populations of the Republic.

Since the 1950s Azerbaijan horses have been improved by Arabian and Tersk sires while Karabakh was bred separately. Crossbreeding involved horses of the Deliboz type.

Deliboz horses differ from others by a clean, short head with a broad forehead and narrow nose, a compact heavy neck, a ribbed massive body with a good top line and an even, long back and loin. Legs are clean and well proportioned and the cannon bone girth is larger than that of other horses.

Deliboz is characterized by unstable temperament and predominantly rack (or pace) gait. A typical feature is a peculiar lengthwise fold on the tongue giving the impression of a forked tongue.

Average withers height is 152 cm, chest girth 172 cm and cannon bone girth 19.4 cm.

The Deliboz horses show good working capacity. They easily cover 45-55 km a day in highlands under a pack weighing 115-130 kg, and 70 km under a rider. The best racing results are 1 min 56 sec for 1600 m and 2 min 55 sec for 2400 m.

At present the pedigree nucleus of Deliboz is represented by descendants of Tersk stallions Tselostat and Pygmalion; therefore the problem arises of how to restore the breeding nucleus of local horses. Dashyuz stud farm has the 140 most typical Deliboz horses including breeding mares with a high proportion of Tersk blood. It is planned to breed them pure but with single back crossing to one or two stallions with little Tersk blood in order to preserve the valuable traits of the crosses.

Reference:

Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.

Photographs:

Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.

We are currently searching for photographs, slides or video of this breed. If you have visual material which we could borrow or if you know of a potential source please contact us using the comment form below.